[ZESTCaste] New Bollywood film stokes caste controversy

11 August 2011MUMBAI - A new Bollywood film tackling the thorny issue of castequotas in Indian government jobs and education is released this weekin the face of vocal protests from minorities.

Politicians and interest groups championing the low-caste Hindus andother marginalised groups that the system is designed to help havecome out in force against "Aarakshan" (Reservation), despite it nothitting screens until Friday.

The head of India's National Commission for Scheduled Castes has evensaid that director Prakash Jha's film was "anti-Dalit andanti-reservation", referring to the community previously known as"untouchables".

In Mumbai, publicity material was vandalised and more than a dozenactivists arrested for protesting outside Jha's office, promptingpolice to give him and the film's leading actors extra security.

Elsewhere, the government of Uttar Pradesh state banned any promotionof the film on security grounds, protests have been held in Rajasthanand Punjab and a court case has been brought against a decision topass the film uncut.

Jha, whose films have previously tackled social issues such ascorruption and power politics, denies taking a position on the issue.

"In India there are people who benefit from this policy and there arethose who have missed an opportunity because of the policy.Reservation and the quota system is a hard-hitting reality.

"It is almost an India versus India situation and by showing this inmy movie, I am trying to bridge the gap."

Reservation refers to the policy of guaranteeing jobs for sociallydisadvantaged groups, officially referred to as "scheduled tribes,scheduled castes and other backward classes".

The affirmative action aims to provide equal opportunities for thepoorest and most marginalised in India's complex and deeply entrenchedsocial hierarchy.

India's 160 million Dalits, many of whom live in rural areas, stillface prejudice despite anti-discrimination laws, while harshretribution is often meted out for flouting caste and sub-caste lines.

The quota system itself is the subject of frequent challenges, withthe number of places allocated to disadvantaged groups changing fromstate to state and sometimes exceeding the legal maximum of 50percent.

Those who miss out on public sector jobs or education places as aresult say the system fails to reward talent or ability.

Some sociologists have suggested that traditional caste notions havebeen eroded in any case due to India's economic boom, improving wealthand social mobility.

Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy, a political scientist at JawaharlalNehru University in New Delhi, said that phenomenon was morenoticeable in fast-growing cities.

But the pace of change is slow, he said, and discrimination still rifein areas from housing to marriage.

"It's still a major issue," he said.

As a result, he added that it was clear why passions could be inflamedover pre-release clips from the drama, showing actor Amitabh Bachchan,playing an idealistic school principal, railing against the impositionof quotas.

But with chronic under-investment in state education, there was "noalternative" to the quotas — other than a concerted government driveto lift millions out of poverty, he added.

Directors would be well aware of the risks of tackling such a subject,said Ashish Rajyadakshya, from the Centre for the Study of Culture andSociety in Bangalore and a co-editor of the Encyclopaedia of IndianFilm.

"It (protests) is not only limited to cinema. People make this kind ofcomplaint through the legal system on religious, linguistic orcaste-based feelings," he added.

Other Bollywood films have faced protests in recent years, mostnotably Deepa Mehta's "Fire" (1996), for its portrayal of lesbianism,and "Water" (2005), about the treatment of widows in Indian society.

Critics of actor Shah Rukh Khan's support for Pakistani cricketersthreatened to disrupt showings of his film "My Name Is Khan" in 2010.

But more often than not, opposition comes from conservative Hindunationalist groups that see themselves as the guardians of Indianculture and values than from those hoping to change social norms.

For now, Jha is digging in his heels, accusing politicians of tryingto win more votes by playing communal politics.

"I am just trying to show how it (reservation) has created two Indias," he said.